THE JOLLY ANGLER. 



19 



CHAP. II. 



Description of Fish, fyc. fyc. 

 THE PRICKLEBACK. 



THIS little fish being so universally known, I shall not 

 waste my reader's time over it. It has a green back ap- 

 proaching to black, with sharp prickles on it, though it 

 varies in colour, some being of a fine pink and purple 

 tinge about the head and shoulders, and seldom grows to 

 above an inch in length ; it is useful to the angler, when 

 he cannot get Minnows, as a bait for Perch and small 

 Jack; it is found in cow ponds, new made ditches, gravel 

 pits, &c. though I could never satisfactorily account to 

 myself for their sudden appearance therein. You may 

 catch him with a worm and thread, without a hook, as he 

 will endeavour to swallow the worm whole, which enables 

 you to pull him out before he can disgorge it from his 

 voracious throat; in some parts they are sufficiently 

 abundant to be used for manure. When used for a bait, 

 some cut the prickles off. 



THE MINNOW, OR PINK. 



Nearly all the rivers round London, particularly about 

 Lewisham, produce a great quantity of these lively little 



